The 46-year-old's environmental activism first began when Fleischer's daughter, born in Atlanta, developed asthma.

Fleischer's newborn struggled to breathe for two years before doctors advised Fleischer and her husband to move away from the pollution of the city.

So they did.

Fleischer is one of Tallahassee’s 25 Women to Watch. Now in its 12th year, the program is the Tallahassee Democrat’s way of honoring women who lead. Meet the women every day during the month of March in print and on tallahassee.com.

The Fleischers left their jobs and a newly renovated house to move to Florida but were soon hit with four consecutive hurricanes. They relocated from the beachfront St. Petersburg to Tallahassee but ran afoul of controlled burns.

"I kind of just felt like I was being followed around by environmental issues," she said.

As a stay-at-home mom, Fleischer would work to bring the children in off the playgrounds at school when there was a controlled burn nearby. She and her husband even considered moving once again.

But then something clicked.

Fleischer found a local group called Mom's Clean Air Force and a local chapter of Citizen's Climate Lobby. The latter group encouraged Fleischer to write a Letter to the Editor at the Democrat, which then went viral just over two years ago.

The international response to her letter was overwhelming.

"That just catapulted me into this world of 'yes, I can do this, I can make a difference,'" said Fleischer.

Since then, she has been to Washington, D.C., multiple times to lobby Congress with either Mom's Clean Air Force or Citizen's Climate Lobby.

"I wasn't one to go looking for a fight or to put myself out there. Everything just seemed to line up to that's what I was being pushed to do," said Fleischer.

She has also started a Creation Care ministry at her Saint Paul's United Methodist Church on Lake Ella Drive. Within two months, the ministry started an organic garden which attracts anyone from grandparents to young children to help tend the vegetables. The church donates the produce to Mana Food on Meridian Road.

“I feel that Creation Care is my heart," said Fleischer.

The ministry attracts attention outside the church by lowering nets in Lake Ella to remove trash and debris and monitoring the litter on Lake Ella Drive.

Fleischer hopes to affect real change by raising her voice and connecting with other people to create a political will.

"I think I always have...gravitated toward leadership roles. I think it's my personality. I've always been seeking, in my heart, that thing I'm supposed to do that's going to make a difference. I've been saying for probably 20 years, 'I know that there's something I'm supposed to do, I'm just not sure what it is,'" she said.

She described the feeling of being called to an activist role as one that she could not ignore.

"Love of nature has always been such a big part of me. I think growing up here in Tallahassee — it's such a special, unique, beautiful place...we were always outside," she said.

Fleischer said she never imagined becoming an activist.

"I thought that was going to be pushing myself out of my comfort zone. And it was, at first," she said.

“I can’t imagine not doing this now that I know everything that I know," she said.

Fleischer said she wants her kids to know she did everything she could to try and help solve problems in the world.

Fleischer's advice to anyone is to find what they are passionate about and connect with others.

“I think the biggest thing I learned is: If you care about an issue, you don’t have to suffer in silence. We all, as Americans living in a democracy, have a voice. And that voice can be really powerful when we connect with other people who care about the same issue, and we can engage and make a difference," she said.